LAND ACQUISITION AND COMPENSATION 7
Land owner receiving compensation payment, Azerbaijan Village based negotiations, Turkey RAP Monitoring with RUDF, Lot C, Turkey
7 7 LAND ACQUISITION AND COMPENSATION The land acquisition and compensation process, land hand-back and livelihood restoration activities are described in the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP). This chapter of the report outlines the key activities carried out in 2005-Q2 to comply with the RAP. 7.1 AZERBAIJAN 7.1.1 ACQUISITION AND COMPENSATION The pipeline ROW land acquisition and compensation process in Azerbaijan is effectively complete with the Project having executed the compensation payment process on behalf of the State in 13 Transit Districts. Further details are given in Table 7.1. Table 7.1: Land Acquisition Progress (cumulative up to 30 June 2005) Event/Activity Status % of Total Payments made to owners / users (% of total number of owners / users) Land available to Contractor (based on % of bank transfers) Number of pre-entry agreements signed by Contractor (as received by BTC) Number of lots occupied by contractor (% of total) Number of lots reinstated and handed back to owners/users Bank accounts have been established for all people, in all Districts, except for 12 unavailable land-owners (for whom compensation has been retained until such time as they are located) and some newly identified land owners as result of post-agreement cases mostly in Shamkir and Agstafa districts. All land is available to the Contractor. 6,442 pre-entry agreements have been signed by the Contractor with landowners and users prior to accessing the land plots. All 6,567 lots have been occupied by the Contractor. Pipe has been laid and buried along the full length of the BTC ROW. 5,967 lots (439km) for BTC have been reinstated. Hand back to landowners, as documented by Exit Agreements, will occur after construction of SCP. 99% 100% The number of Pre-entry agreements signed is 99% complete (by parcel). CCIC landowner pre-entry agreements are in place for 441km of the pipeline. 1 100% 90.8% of total number of parcels for BTC has been reinstated. Dispute Resolution Most transactions were completed smoothly, and owners/users appear satisfied with the level of compensation provided. 1 These figures are provided by the Contractor who claim 100% of agreements are in place, but that the data has not been put into the system. 7-1
The Land Team continues to work jointly with State Land and Cartography Committee (SLCC) and District Commissions in addressing the registered post-agreement cases in Yevlakh, Goranboy, Samukh, Shamkir, Tovuz and Agstafa. After checking the validity of some land plots by SLCC /District authorities and BTC in 2005-Q1, some corrections were made to address technical errors. A summary of these changes is presented in Table 7.2. Table 7.2: Statistics on Changes made in the Land Parcels (cumulative up to 30 June 2005) District New land owners Increased affected parcels Decreased affected parcels Number of planned cancellations Kurdamir 7 3 4 3 Yevlakh 5 16 19 4 Agdash 1 - - - Ujar - 1 2 2 Goranboy 1 10 14 - Samukh 13 6 16 17 Shamkir 62 36 62 31 Tovuz 26 37 37 12 Agstafa 23 67 39 7 TOTAL 138 176 193 76 All new landowners and users listed in Table 7.2 have been registered and agreements have been signed with most of them. The compensation process is ongoing. Since April 2005, new purchase agreements have been signed to allow for the siting of transformers at Above Ground Installations in Agstafa, Tovuz, Shamkir, Samukh and Goranboy. Agreements in the remaining districts will be signed shortly. A few previously acquired parcels will be returned to landowners and the land lease agreements will be cancelled. However, according to Project policy/rap requirements, none of the land owners/users is required to make restitution for mistakenly paid compensation, either in cases where the affected land parcel was decreased or where previously signed agreements have been cancelled. Further meetings were conducted by the Lands and Social teams who have provided all necessary information and support to representatives of NGO s (including: Society of Democratic Reforms (DIUC); Defence of Citizens' Labour Rights League; Helsinki Citizens' Assembly; Azerbaijan National Committee and Himayadar) within the framework of the NGO monitoring programme. NGOs have released their reports on the results of the monitoring conducted. The reports are available on the following websites: http://www.caspiandevelopmentandexport.com/asp/pd_btc_mon_com_5.asp http://www.osi-az.org/btcmonitoring.shtml 7.1.2 LAND USE RETURN Land required for the ROW and temporary facilities is being leased for the duration of the construction activity. For the ROW this is three years 2. During this three year period BTC has rights to construct on the land, although formal ownership remains with the original owner. Only land required for permanent facilities (i.e. Pump and Pigging Stations, and Valves) was purchased. 2 Three years will finish on 31 st December 2005. 7-2
Following completion of construction and reinstatement, and signature of the land exit agreement between the landowner and the Contractor, the landowner can resume their use of the land subject to some minor restrictions (for which they have been compensated). This process of return of use will be monitored by BTC/SCP and will commence once construction of the SCP pipeline is complete. 7.2 GEORGIA 7.2.1 ACQUISITION AND COMPENSATION During 2005-Q2 land acquisition and compensation activities continued to focus on Gardabani and Borjomi with some activity in the Akhaltsikhe, Tsalka and Tetritskaro districts. Table 7.3 provides information on progress to date. Table 7.3: Land Acquisition and Compensation Progress (cumulative up to 30 June 2005) Event/Activity Status % of Total Payments made to owners/users (% of total number of owners/users) Number of pre-entry agreements signed by Contractor (as received by BTC) Number of lots occupied by Contractor (% of total) Number of lots reinstated and handed back to owners/users Contractor temporary land acquisition activities (pipe storage, construction compounds, worker camps, etc) Payments have been made for 3,327 privately 93% 3 owned parcels, 203 high mountain village owned parcels and for 207 leased parcels Pre-entry agreements are signed by the 90% 4 Contractor with landowners and users prior to accessing the land plot All lots have been occupied. Pipe has been laid 100% and buried along the full length of the BTC ROW Phase I reinstatement has commenced. Hand 0% back to landowners, as documented by Exit Agreements, will occur after construction of SCP PSG-1 Gardabani camp 100% PSG-2 Tetritskaro camp and yard 100% Tsalka camp and yard 100% Bakuriani camp 100% Marneuli camp and yard 100% Akhaltsikhe camp and yard 100% Rustavi pipe yard 100% Land Registration and Ownership BTC has registered an additional 3 cases of disputed ownership, bringing the total number of cases of disputed ownership or disputed parcel captured through the grievance system to 92 of which: 26 were invalid; 47 were resolved through appropriate compensation; 11 were forwarded to the relevant state authorities for clarification and resolution; and 5 have been resolved through other means. In total, 3 grievances remain unresolved. No additional landowners have been advised to apply to the courts for suitable relief. BTC has agreed with the State that persons being confirmed as the rightful original owners by the Georgian Courts will receive appropriate compensation from BTC at Project rates. Any owners who have their parcel size increased by the State Authorities whilst correcting registration defects will receive appropriate additional compensation payments. 3 The number of payments and consequently the percentage of total payments has decreased due to the revision of the number of parcels required. However, according to Project policy/rap requirements, none of the land owners/users are required to make restitution for paid compensation payment in cases where the land is no longer required. 4 The number of required parcels changes as construction progresses and consequently the percentage of final preentry agreements signed also changes. Although activity has started on all parcels of land, some pre-land entry agreements are still being finalised or have yet to be entered on the system. 7-3
Crop Inventory Issues and Compensation Payment Delays To date there have been 63 grievances relating to crop inventory disagreement, reinventory requests and compensation calculation: 47 of these have been resolved. There are 10 outstanding lessees who have yet to receive compensation but on whose land construction has already begun. The reasons for outstanding payment are: Outstanding documents in support of claims and registration issues (6); Ongoing negotiations or disagreement within the initiative groups 5 (2); Court cases involving lessees and State (1); and Ongoing negotiations (1). Lastly, from a total of 35 high mountain villages intersected by the pipeline construction corridor, 33 have been compensated. The remaining 2 claims are being processed. 7.2.2 RAP FUND The goal of the RAP Fund in Georgia is to ensure that the Project s potential adverse impacts are taken into account and mitigated through non-cash assistance. The main commitments under the RAP Fund are: Investment and savings advice provided by APLR. This has been completed; Compensation for grazing fees on Sakrebulo 6 managed land. This was completed in 2004-Q4; Non-cash support in the form of livestock or crops to vulnerable persons, who, by virtue of their existing situation may be less able to restore their livelihood with compensation funds, has been completed. These activities were co-ordinated through The Vulnerable People Initiative (VPI) 7 and managed by the CIP Implementing Partners Mercy Corps (Georgia East) and CARE (Georgia West) on behalf of the Project. Only distribution of food aid packages to individuals who preferred not to be involved in the livestock or crops programmes is outstanding. Training Visits: These were attended by more people than previously, mainly due to the improved weather. The Implementing Partners continued to invite nonproject-affected individuals to participate in the training to give more people the opportunity to discuss and share new knowledge and skills with programme participants. Formation of Working Groups: Mercy Corps continued with training of Working Groups in each community to assist with the implementation of the VPI. The Working Groups are made up of vulnerable people and other members of the community, to support the implementation of the VPI with the assistance of Mercy Corps. Both CARE and Mercy Corps reported challenges in gaining agreement as to who should be included in the list of vulnerable people qualifying for support during 2005, however, this has been resolved. 5 Initiative groups refers to leases which are in a single person's name but where there are a number of other interested parties formally noted in the lease. These parties cannot agree with each other as to division of compensation. All initiative group members have to be in agreement before the BTC formal agreement can be completed with the primary leaseholder. 6 Local authorities or Sakrebulos charge grazing fees for the use of Sakrebulo managed land. Where the construction corridor crosses Sakrebulo managed land, BTC is covering the costs of grazing fees on all of that land on behalf of the users. 7 Vulnerable people are those individuals whose livelihoods are affected by land acquisition and due to their existing vulnerabilities may be less able to restore their livelihood through the existing compensation mechanisms (e.g., pensioners, disabled individuals). The selection criteria for the VPI were based on those of the Georgian Government and World Bank Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Programme of Georgia (2003). To minimise tension in the community and to be seen to be fair, the VPI in Georgia covers all people in the Pipeline Affected Community (PAC), whether or not they are affected by land compensation. The total number of vulnerable people in PACs in Georgia is 4,000. 7-4
7.2.3 LAND USE RETURN Agreement on a strategy for the hand back of land use to the original owners and application of use restrictions within the protection zone was reached by BTC and SCP partners and briefing note was circulated in 2005-Q1 to explain the basis for the process. BTC has produced a community pamphlet explaining the land use restrictions and hand back process for pipeline operations. This is being distributed by APLR and BTC land acquisition team to affected landowners. The information dissemination process is complicated by the fact that the BTC/SCP pipeline separation distances vary along the length of the route, meaning the corridor of restrictions ranges from 44m to 58m in width. The width of land outside of the previously-purchased 44m construction corridor subject to restrictions therefore varies along the ROW. Restriction rights will therefore need to be acquired over this additional 0 7m wide strip. Legal documentation to achieve formalisation of land use hand back plus acquisition of additional restrictions is in the final stages of preparation. 7.3 TURKEY 7.3.1 ACQUISITION AND COMPENSATION In Turkey the land acquisition process is ongoing. All payments for state lands have been completed and payments to private lands are ongoing through the completion of Article 10 court cases. The progress on payments for private lands and other key ongoing land acquisition issues in Turkey is summarised in Table 7.4. Table 7.4: Land Acquisition and Compensation Progress (cumulative up to 30 June, 2005) Event/Activity Status % of Total Payments to land owners including private and customary land owners (excludes public parcels which are 100% acquired) Ongoing 8,809 parcel owners were paid out of total 9,399 8. Progress on Article 10 Following Article 27 applications, Article 10 cases are opened accordingly. Progress has been made this quarter and additional settlements have been made (561 cases out of 3,071 are ongoing). Small payments from RAP Fund Financial assistance to legal landowners for registration process. There have been no additional RAP fund payments during this reporting period. Compensation to fishermen Compensation agreements made with 47 out of 48 fishermen. There has been no change since 2004-Q4. 94% (+2% since 2005-Q1) 82% (+5% since 2005-Q1) US$91,222 (no change since 2004-Q4) Note 1: The following has not been shown in this report as 100% progress in each area was achieved and reported in the 2004-Q4 report: Progress on Article 27 cases; Land available to the contractors; Crop payments to formal and informal users through RAP fund; Impact evaluation and determination of amount of compensation to be paid for Village Common Land through RAP fund; Village Common Land payments (% of identified); and First stage monitoring of Livelihood restoration (replicate household survey etc). Note 2. Statistics exclude any additional land acquisition activities. Preparation of expropriation files for additional land acquisition is required due to as-built deviations from the detailed engineering design. 98% 8 Due to changes in permanent land acquisition requirements the total number of parcels required for construction has increased slightly since the last quarter. 7-5
7.3.2 ARTICLE 10 CASES AND MISIDENTIFICATION OF LAND OWNERS As reported previously, the two key ongoing issues for the land acquisition process in Turkey are the closure of ongoing Article 10 court cases and resolution of the misidentification of the owners and boundaries of customarily owned lands (particularly in Lot A). A full explanation of these issues was provided in the 2004-Q2 report (see Section 7.3.3). Progress on each of these issues is detailed below: Article 10 An additional 122 Article 10 cases were closed in 2005-Q2. Article 10 cases are currently outstanding on 561 parcels of land which represent 18% of the total parcels of land affected by Article 10 and 6% of the total number of private and customarily owned land parcels. Botaş/DSA continue to support courts and title deed offices to accelerate the resolution of remaining cases. RUDF (Rural Urban Development Foundation) is providing independent third party monitoring on behalf of BTC to monitor the status of court cases through interviews with directly affected people and judges, DSA land acquisition staff and lawyers etc. Misidentification of Customary Land Owners During 2005-Q2 the General Directorate of Cadastre and Title Deed office continued their Cadastral surveys of the villages affected by the misidentification of customary land owners and boundaries. An additional 12 surveys were finished this quarter bringing the total completed to 21 of 34. 7.3.3 RAP FUND No additional RAP Fund payments were made during this reporting period. 7.3.4 LAND USE RETURN In Turkey, all temporarily acquired land will automatically be returned to the landowners, for their use, 3 years after signature of the land agreement. This is in line with the Turkish Expropriation law. Upon completion of reinstatement of temporarily and permanently acquired land and prior to returning the land, the EPC Contractors will complete Land Exit Agreements for each parcel of land. Each agreement will be signed under the supervision and control of Botaş/DSA and Community Relations and Environment Teams at the end of Phase 2 reinstatement. Botaş and BTC have produced a Land Exit Procedure. The Project is also developing a Community Information Pamphlet which will be distributed to communities. The pamphlet addresses issues relating to the end of construction and the start of operations, such as the land exit process and the land-use restrictions that will be applied to the permanent corridor and its surroundings. The pamphlet has been drafted and will be completed in 2005-Q3. 7.3.5 RAP MONITORING The Project is required to internally monitor the implementation of the land acquisition and compensation process and outcome of the resettlement process. Activities this quarter undertaken by independent third party monitors on behalf of BTC included: The preparation of a report on the household surveys conducted by Ankara University; Progress on the monitoring of the fishermen compensation package; Monitoring of impacts to villagers from additional temporary land requirements; and Monitoring of general land acquisition and construction impacts on livelihoods. 7-6
A summary of these are provided below: Household income surveys by Ankara University: During 2005-Q1 Ankara University completed its first annual replicate household income survey on almost a third of all affected villages. The Turkish version of the report setting out the findings of the surveys has been prepared and is being translated into English. The survey results will be reported in 2005-Q3. Effectiveness of fishermen compensation packages by Ankara University: The last round of monitoring was completed in 2005-Q1. The University will undertake further monitoring in 2005-Q3. The main issue from the monitoring in 2005-Q1 is concern about potential employment opportunities during the operations phase. The Livelihood Restoration Plan is being prepared and will summarise the Livelihood Restoration process undertaken for the fishermen at Golovasi. The report will include information on the socio-economic impact assessment process, economic evaluation, consultation and negotiations, development of sustainable compensation packages and the monitoring process. Impact from land acquisition, construction impacts and additional rented lands: RUDF undertook monitoring in 86 villages in Lots A, B and C this quarter. With respect to additional land take, RUDF found that in Lot B non-payment (both cash and in-kind) to landowners for the temporary use of their land was an ongoing issue. In addition, it was found that in some cases the Contractor had not sufficiently reinstated the land following completion. RUDF recognised significant progress had been made on the issues raised in the previous quarter, but that more work was still required RUDF have verified 123 grievances recorded by DSA and 175 grievances recorded by the EPC Contractors. RUDF concluded that some of the grievances raised by villagers had been recorded as resolved by the Contractor but had not been resolved to the satisfaction of the landowner. Most of these complaints were related to grievances under the Courts jurisdiction with respect to customary owner mis-identification (mostly in Lot A). Botaş/DSA will revise the status of the resolved complaints to address the situation based on the results of an additional survey conducted by the Cadastral Office as a result of the agreement with the Botaş General Directorate and the Cadastral Office in order to clarify these claims. Other issues included sub-contractor payment. Botaş will take steps to ensure that major sub-contractors to the Contractors are financially secure and that appropriate bonds are put in place to cover contingencies including failure to pay local suppliers. Other complaints relate to damage to infrastructure and assets and are being investigated. 7-7